A large gay pride banner was ripped off the side of a church in Bethesda, Maryland.
“It was like a punch in the stomach,” said children’s minister Dennis Williams of Bethesda United Methodist Church on Old Georgetown Road.
Williams was the first person from the church to notice the damage to the two-story tall banner last week.
“Back in the day, I would have understood that, but now, living where we live and being in such a supportive church, it hurt,” he said.
In a statement to WTOP, Montgomery County police said officers were called to the church on Wednesday, Nov. 8 after a report of vandalism.
A preliminary investigation showed that on Tuesday, Nov. 7, at around 9:35 p.m., an unknown suspect walked to the church’s property, damaged the flag and left the scene.
Police have not determined if the incident was a hate crime, the statement said.
The church passed on security camera footage of the vandalism to police as part of their investigation, Williams said. He told WTOP the video shows a person in a white hoodie first trying to rip the banner down, then using something to cut it.
Williams said a new banner is going up to replace the damaged one.
“Yes, they [the laity] voted already to purchase a new one and not let anybody get to us,” he said.
Williams said the banner was installed back in June to recognize Pride month.
